A major housing project proposed in the East Whisman neighborhood received praise this week for its responsiveness to the city’s review process, increasing its green space and affordable housing units.

But it also got some pushback for its plans to remove heritage trees, and to place all of its affordable units in a separate building.

The development, located at a prominent intersection at 675 and 685 E. Middlefield Road, has undergone some design changes since the last time it was presented to the city’s Development Review Committee. But conceptually, it has largely stayed on track with its original plans.

The developer, Prometheus Real Estate Group, is still proposing to build the same amount of housing, office and parking spaces on the 10.58-acre site, according to plans presented to the city on Jan. 17.

Residential uses takes up the largest share of the development, with Prometheus proposing to build 860 apartments across three buildings, seven to eight stories in height. Two of the buildings will consist entirely of market-rate units, for a total of 688 units. The third building will have 172 below-market-rate (BMR) units, according to the permit request, making it 20% affordable housing.

In addition to housing, Prometheus also plans to build a six-story office building and an 8.5 level garage with 683 parking spots, the same as its previous proposal.

But in a fairly significant change to its plans, Prometheus has increased the amount of publicly accessible open space, enlarging the size of a park from 0.36 acres to 0.52 acres, a 37% increase in scale, according to Don Peterson, senior vice president of development at Prometheus.

Other major changes included the relocation of the office loading dock. Originally it was positioned near the Middlefield VTA station, but this was not approved by the city's Public Works Department or VTA, so it has since been rerouted, Peterson said.

The development also underwent numerous design changes to boost public accessibility and visual appeal, such as creating more welcoming and open public plazas and entry points as well as incorporating more variation in the building facades to create less massing and complement the outdoor landscaping.

The Development Review Committee commended the many design changes implemented by Prometheus, based on staff recommendations. But committee members also raised concerns about the 44 heritage trees that Prometheus has proposed to remove and suggested that it find ways to cut down on the losses.

“The heritage tree removal permit itself is not something this body acts on. But we do understand the priority for trying to preserve trees at this particular property,” said Rebecca Shapiro, the deputy zoning administrator.

In public comments, Mountain View residents Hala Alshahwany and Leslie Friedman urged Prometheus to consider the environmental and public health impacts of cutting down the heritage trees, describing them as assets that cannot be easily replaced.

Alshahwany also raised concerns over the proposal to split up the affordable and market-rate units, and the implications of separating the residential buildings by income.

“I really appreciate the developer designating an entire residential building for 100%, affordable housing. That's fantastic. The only problem I have with that is segregating the affordable housing folks from the market rate housing buildings, in my mind that really creates inequity,” she said.

“They shouldn't be put on the side by themselves, they deserve to be incorporated in that community,” she added.

Prometheus did not comment on the issue of the housing in the presentation, but it did address its efforts to preserve heritage trees, stating that it was doing everything it could to keep more of them. “The team is working on it,” said a representative of the developer.